Deviations
by the blanket
Summary: A collection of Hiei x Botan drabbles in varying lengths. Some sweet, some sour, and some...crack!ficcy. Updates will be sporadic.
1. Deviations

**Disclaimer**: Not mine

**Title**: Deviations  
**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan  
**Genre**: Gen-fic / Romance  
**Words**: 340  
**Warnings**: OOC for both Botan _and _Hiei, TWT, over-speculation...the usual.  
**Summary**: Botan considers the deviations in one, Hiei, wielder of the Darkness Flame.

* * *

_He is an anomaly_, thought Botan, blue hair whipping wildly around her, cotton-candy eyes narrowed in silent contemplation.

At once ruthless and honorable, Hiei was a contradiction in terms. He was stoic. His face barely twitched, even in the most difficult of battles, yet, there was passion in every slash of his sword. He was icy, and he emitted a "touch-me-and-die" attitude that so easily provoked the quick-tempered Kuwabara into challenging him to a brawl.

An..._invitation_, Botan noticed, Hiei never accepted.

That particular train of thought led her musings to his own unique code of honor.

Hiei lived by his own rules, that much was certain. As a former thief, living in a band of not-so-merry vagabonds, he had learned the hard way that it was a kill-or-be-killed world. The weak were meant to nourish his blade, and anyone who didn't live by his standards was quickly killed, probably out of compassion. _After all, if he didn't do it,_ Botan thought ruefully, _someone else would, and that someone else would not be as lenient an executioner. _

One could say what one wanted about Hiei, but out of the four, he was definitely the quickest with his kills.

Ah..._the four_. The Spirit Detectives were a formidable team in any right. Along with Yukina, his beloved sister, Kurama, Kuwabara and Yuusuke were among the few people in any of the three worlds that he tolerated any weakness from. And even there, with the team, he had his limits. He had quickly and acurately identified Kuwabara's indignation before his fight with the Elder Toguro—and his mild irritation with the absent Genkai— for what it really was: agitation, nerves, the fear that he would fall. In his own way, Hiei had encouraged him, in that roundabout way he had of dishing out compliments. No pep talks, no pats on the back, just a gruff _you'll pull your own weight from now on_ and that was it. When Yuusuke had been kidnapped by Sensui, Hiei's initial reaction had been smug. Yuusuke had been weak, he said, too cocky in his own ability to blindly punch his way out of any mess he got himself into. But with the right incentive, he had agreed to help, and then, their dismantled team was whole once more. Underneath the apathy, Botan couldn't really believe that Hiei would let Yuusuke down.

Indeed, Botan observed, the most noticeable deviation was the way he acted around the people he cared for.

Her hands loosened their death grip on the oar as she prepared to descend.

On one hand, he obviously cared enough about them to keep them safe. However, he tried his hardest to gently push them away every time he felt they got too close. It all ran back to his ridiculous idea about merit. He'd said —not so much in words, but in actions—that he was a murderer; a rogue, damned to a life of "shadedom"— seeing and feeling life, but doomed never to be a part of it.

It was something they'd argued about ever since the dynamic between them changed from "barely acquaintances" to "almost lovers."

Which brought her mind back to his most noticeable deviation.

His lips were not lush. They were thin, usually drawn in a straight, grim line. But when they kissed, it always surprised her; how gentle he was. The feeling of his breath hitting her mouth always made her lips open as a reflex; and before she knew it, he was in her, killing her softly before she even knew she was alive.

Which she was... sort of.

A kiss killing Death...the idea of it made Botan's lips curve into an uncharacteristically sardonic smile.

As she touched down in front of the Spirit World Palace, Botan wondered when she would die again.

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Read and please Review.  



	2. Pancakes

**Title**: Pancakes  
**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan  
**Genre**: Humor   
**Words**: 150. I swear I'll get there.  
**Warnings**: OOC for Hiei, crack!ficcy.  
**Summary**: A charred handprint on one side of the offending, pink, frilly garment was the only sign of pent-up frustration.

* * *

The laughter was really starting to piss him off.

Hiei could hear Kurama—_see_ him actually—making various calming gestures with his hands, but he knew the fox was holding his amusement in for later.

"Now, now. Yuusuke, Kuwabara..."

He sounded like a schoolmarm.

"It's been two months, and Botan's already got Shorty runnin' around!"

"You ain't kiddin' Kuwabara! Pretty soon she'll have him ironing her underwear for her!"

The Jagan Eye under Hiei's white bandanna flared malevolently, promising pain for the Spirit Detective and his sidekick.

Luckily for blissfully ignorant Yuu-chan and Kuwa-chan, Botan waddled into the kitchen, both hands resting on her expanding stomach.

"Hiei...where are my pancakes? And what happened to my _Kiss the Chef _apron?"

A charred handprint on one side of the offending, pink, frilly garment was the only sign of pent-up frustration.

There was really no choice.

Someone would have to die for this.

* * *

_...what? _

Read, and Review please.


	3. Posing the Question

**Disclaimer**: Totally** absolutely**, not mine

**Title**: Posing the Question  
**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan  
**Genre**: Humor  
**Words**: 106. _SO CLOSE_.  
**Warnings**: OOC for Hiei, semi-crack!ficcy, innuendo. HA.  
**Summary**: A wishbone and a lesson on posing questions.

* * *

"You. Ferry Girl. Pull my bone."

For the first time in her afterlife, she was left speechless.

"E-e-excuse me?"

Next to Hiei, Yuusuke stifled a fit of laughter. If _he'd_ said that to Botan, the least he would have gotten was a severe slap, and a lecture from Keiko on the importance of good manners.

"You heard me, woman. Pull my bone."

It was at this point that her eyebrows began to twitch.

One hour later, Yuusuke was still explaining why Botan had slapped him so hard.

Hiei resisted the urge to pull out his sword.

"You see Hiei...it's all about how you pose the question..."

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Read and please Review. 


	4. Little Bit Less

**Title**: Little Bit Less  
**Pairing**: None, Botan thought!drabble  
**Genre**: General / bordering on Angst. Kind of.  
**Words**: 100. **SUCCESS**.  
**Warnings**: Probably an OOC Botan.  
**Summary**: Botan was, in almost every way, just a little bit less.

* * *

Botan was, in almost every way, just a little bit less. 

She wasn't smart like Keiko; Fibonacci sequences and Shakespearian sonnets were never her cup of tea.

She wasn't sweet like Yukina. She was polite, and she was cheery, but her presence was not one that could be described as soothing, even in the best of circumstances.

She certainly wasn't as strong as Shizuru. It was quite obvious how—and why— Kazuma developed his fighting technique.

Little less intelligent.

Little less charming.

Little less tough.

Or perhaps, if one wanted to be nicer about it, she was simply _not quite_.

* * *

Thought I'd try something new.

C&C appreciated.


	5. The Right Words

**Title**: The Right Words  
**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan  
**Genre**: _meh_ Angst?  
**Words**: 600. I'm tasting pineapples again.  
**Warnings**: Nothing really. You decide if they are OOC ;)  
**Notes:** I promised myself that I would try to use _baka_ & _onna_ sparingly. I couldn't think of anything that sounded right, and to be quite honest, I can't remember how Hiei addresses Botan in the anime—or even if he does.

* * *

Kurama may have been the wit. Yuusuke held the trophy for innuendo. Kuwabara ruled over flowery prose.

Hiei was the master of the sarcastic retort.

In the Makai, it was said that the only thing sharper than his sword, was his tongue.

He prided himself on always having a quick comeback. It was what made goading Kuwabara fun. But though he would never admit it, trash-talking— and the occasional snippet of advice— was the only kind of talk he was good at.

"Come on, Hiei! Just admit it and we'll quit rilin' you all the time."

"Yes, Yuusuke does have a point. You've been acting strangely...tolerant of her lately. Care to explain?"

"Yeah, with your messed up head, I'm guessing that's the closest you're ever gonna get to real feelings!"

"...I am most certainly not in love with that baka ferry onna!"

* * *

She was a blabbermouth. There was no getting around it.

If there was a wrong thing to be said at the wrong time, Botan could always be counted on to say it.

From where she was floating near the top of the temple, Botan could see their four faces clearly. Yuusuke was curious, his eyebrows drawn together in an expression of uncharacteristic contemplation. Kurama was watching Hiei for any tell-tale reactions and Kuwabara was quiet, simply waiting for a response.

Hiei, unsurprisingly, refused to give anyone that satisfaction.

She brushed away any wayward tears—_when had they come? _—with the pink sleeve of her kimono and decided that enough was enough. She coughed slightly to let them know that she was there—_really_, _how could they have missed her?_ —and slowly floated down to join them.

"I never asked you to love me."

Three horrified faces, and one impassive one, turned to her in perfect synchronization. Before they could say anything else, she raised up a hand to stop them. She took a deep, slightly-shaky breath, before starting again.

"And I never told anyone—she swallowed convulsively—that you did."

Hiei's eyes narrowed, as though he expected an attack. His fists clenched tighter until his nails almost broke the skin.

She turned to Yuusuke.

"Yuusuke, I am n-n-not in love with Hiei."

It seemed that she was getting better and better at lying. She had only stuttered twice.

He nodded quickly, probably under the impression that the implied rejection—_thank goodness she never told him_—had damaged her. Botan ignored this and went back to addressing them all as a whole.

"See? It doesn't hurt Yuusuke's feelings."

"Botan...I'm so sor—"

She turned to Kuwabara, from whom the interrupted apology had come.

"You have nothing to apologize for. No one here...has anything to apologize for..."

The awkward silence that descended upon them was a quick one, but it didn't make it any less painful for the girl with the cotton-candy eyes to pick up the tatters of her tired heart, with a promise to sew them back together later, when she was ready, and when it didn't feel quite so empty.

"Well, that's settled then. No feelings were hurt. Now, onto the reason I'm here. Koenma has a new mission for you all..."

Her pale purple eyes were glistening, but for once, the right words were coming out of her mouth.

As he watched her explaining the specifics of the new case, her hands gesturing with their awkward grace, blue hair waving in the night wind, tear-tainted eyes avoiding direct contact with his own, Hiei wished he could say the same.

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Thank you for reading. Review, please!


	6. Regret

**Title**: Regret  
**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan, of course.  
**Genre**: Angst  
**Words**: Drabble.  
**Warnings**: Nothing really...  
**Summary**: It would have been beautiful.

* * *

It would have been beautiful. 

On the rare days he allows himself a moment of respite from training, he thinks about her, wonders what she's doing, whether she's happy now.

When he's feeling particularly masochistic, he considers what they could have been.

_It wouldn't work_, he had said, _we're too different_.

She'd smiled at him, one of those plastic ones he'd seen Kurama give those vapid girls that sometimes followed him home, and nodded her head, his rejection a string of heavy words around her neck.

He'd stood there, unable to look away, as his last chance for salvation disappeared.

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Thank you for reading. Please, please, review. 


	7. The Honorable Thing

**Disclaimer**:Still not mine. One can hope though...**  
**

**Title**: The Honorable Thing  
**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan  
**Genre**: General  
**Words**: Drabble.  
**Warnings**: OOC for Hiei.  
**Summary**: The honorable thing to do would be to stay away.

* * *

_The honorable thing to do would be to stay away._

He was cruel, murderous, a wanderer with nowhere to call home.

She was sunlight and smiles, a breath of spring in his eternal winter. As close to heaven as someone like him could ever hope to get.

_The honorable thing to do would be to stay away._

But she'd come to him, eyes shining with the promise of redemption, and for once in his hard, cold life, Hiei found himself undone.

_The honorable thing to do would be to stay away._

Hiei figured some things were more important than honor.

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Worry not, Chapter Three of _Just One Night_ is in progress. Look for it near the end of the week. For now, I hope this satisfies a bit. Don't forget to review, and thanks for reading. ;) 


	8. Heartless

**Title**: Heartless

**Pairing**: Hiei x Botan  
**Genre**: Fluff.  
**Words**: Drabble.  
**Warnings**: Irredeemably fluffy.  
**Summary**: "...I'm a medical miracle, you know."

**

* * *

** "I can't love you. I don't have the equipment required for that kind of interaction."

"Equipment?"

"A heart. I'm a medical miracle, you know."

"..."

"Well? Isn't this the part where you run crying to one of your girlfriends?"

"...You're an idiot. You know that right?"

"Hn."

He tried not to be too obvious in his staring. Mussed blue hair, candy eyes one shade darker than her rumpled pink kimono, cheeks flushed, mouth slightly upturned at the corners...

"What are you smiling about?"

She grinned and kissed him, a whisper of lips on skin.

"Silly boy. You already have mine."**

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**  
Fear not! Chapter Four is on its way, but after that, it'll be a bit longer before I can update again. College is calling. ;)


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